Affiliate Disclosure & Our Commitment to Honest Reviews

We believe honesty is the foundation of any helpful review. That’s why we want you to know exactly how VPN.com works, how we earn through affiliate links, how we keep reviews fair, and why your trust is always our priority. This page explains it all, with nothing hidden.

This disclosure was created by the VPN.com team to help you understand how we fund our research and keep our reviews honest. With years of hands-on testing and real-world experience, we’re committed to staying transparent, unbiased, and user-focused in everything we publish.

VPN.com believes in putting your trust first. Our mission is simple: to help you make the best choices when it comes to your online security.

In a world filled with countless VPN options, it’s essential to have clear, honest information that you can rely on. That’s why we are committed to transparency, ensuring that all our reviews are unbiased and based on real data.

Your trust matters to us, and that’s why we are open about how and why we work with affiliate partnerships. We’re here to guide you in choosing the right VPN, free from any hidden agendas. Rest assured, our goal is to help you browse with confidence, whether it’s for privacy, speed or ease of use.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a way for websites to earn money by promoting other companies’ products or services. When someone clicks on an affiliate link and makes a purchase, the website owner earns a commission.

It’s a common method used by many online businesses to monetize their content without charging users directly.

How It Relates to VPN.com

VPN.com uses affiliate marketing to support our operations. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and decide to sign up for a VPN service, we earn a small commission.

However, it’s important to note that these affiliate commissions do not influence the reviews or recommendations we make.

We prioritize providing you with honest, unbiased reviews to help you choose the right VPN based on your needs, not because of any affiliate relationship. Your best interest always comes first.

Why We Have Affiliate Partnerships

Affiliate partnerships are a fundamental part of how VPN.com operates. These partnerships allow us to provide high-quality, in-depth VPN reviews and guides while ensuring that we maintain free access to our content.

By working with trusted VPN providers, we can continue delivering valuable insights to help you make the best decisions regarding your online privacy and security.

Purpose of Affiliate Relationships

Affiliate partnerships are key to keeping our site running smoothly while providing you with the best possible content.

The commissions we earn from these partnerships help fund the costs of testing, research and other essential services.

Support Testing & Research

The revenue from our affiliate partnerships helps us invest in the necessary hardware, pay our team of experts and maintain the high-speed internet connections required for thorough VPN testing.

This ensures that our reviews are as accurate and comprehensive as possible.

Keep Content Free

One of the most important benefits of affiliate partnerships is that they allow us to keep VPN.com free for you.

By relying on affiliate revenue, we can offer our in-depth VPN reviews and guides without charging you for access to our content.

No Extra Cost to Users

We want to make it clear that using our affiliate links will not cost you any extra money.

In fact, in many cases, it can actually save you money, as we often have access to exclusive deals or discounts. The prices you pay for a VPN subscription remain the same or sometimes even lower when using our affiliate links.

“We only partner with VPN providers who meet our strict quality standards. Our affiliate links do not affect the price you pay; it simply means we receive a referral fee when you sign up.”

How We Maintain Unbiased Reviews

VPN.com takes great pride in offering honest, impartial reviews. We understand that trust is essential when it comes to online security, so we make sure that our review process remains transparent and free from external influence.

Separation Between Revenue & Editorial

Our editorial team operates independently from our affiliate relationships. Reviewers and testers do not work with affiliate managers, ensuring that their feedback is based solely on the performance of the VPNs themselves.

The editorial team has the final say on the content, scores and rankings, so no affiliate partnership affects the integrity of the review.

Same Method for All Providers

Whether a VPN is a partner or not, we apply the same rigorous testing methodology to every provider. This includes speed tests, privacy checks, streaming performance evaluations and more.

Each VPN goes through the same process to ensure that we provide you with the most accurate and consistent information possible.

Disclosure in Each Review

Transparency is key. We include clear disclaimers and “affiliate disclaimers” within each review, typically near call-to-action buttons or on the review page itself.

This ensures that readers are fully aware of any affiliate links, maintaining transparency and trust in the content we provide.

Our Testing & Review Process

At VPN.com, we are dedicated to providing reliable, transparent and consistent VPN reviews. Our team conducts in-depth testing using real devices and networks to simulate typical user experiences.

By testing VPN performance across various platforms and conditions, we ensure our reviews reflect real-world scenarios and help you make an informed decision.

Hardware & Tools

We use a combination of real devices and testing tools to assess VPN performance. Our devices include:

• Windows 10 & 11: Custom-built PC with Intel Core i7 and 1 Gbps Ethernet connection.
• macOS Ventura: MacBook Air with M2 chip and 16GB RAM.
• iOS 16: iPhone 13.
• Android 12: Samsung Galaxy S21.
• Router Setup: ASUS RT-AC86U with DD-WRT firmware for VPN configurations.
• Linux: Raspberry Pi 4.
• Gaming Consoles: PS5, Xbox Series S and Nintendo Switch.

By testing across these diverse platforms, both desktop and mobile, plus router setups and gaming consoles, we provide complete information on how each VPN performs in everyday environments.

Connection Types

We test VPNs under two primary connection types:

• Home Network: A 500 Mbps fiber connection provides stable, high-speed performance.
• Public Wi-Fi Networks: Testing also includes Wi-Fi found in coffee shops, airports and other public spaces, where connections are often weaker and less secure.

We also test VPN performance at different times of the day, during both peak and off-peak hours, to see how well they handle network congestion. This helps us provide realistic performance insights, especially for users who rely on public Wi-Fi.

Software & Measurement Tools

Our tests are thorough and repeatable, utilizing multiple tools to monitor speed, reliability and potential issues such as DNS leaks.

Here are the main tools we use:

• Ookla Speedtest (for both desktop and mobile apps) to check download/upload speeds.
• Netflix Fast.com for streaming performance tests.
• Custom command-line speed script to test ping, download and upload across multiple servers.
• DNSLeakTest.com to check for DNS leaks.

All results are logged in a spreadsheet, maintaining over 100 data points for each VPN. We perform at least two tests per VPN service every month and re-test premium services every three months to ensure accurate, up-to-date information.

For more detailed information, we encourage you to visit our testing methodology page to explore how our testing processes uphold the quality and integrity of our reviews.

Compliance with Laws & Regulations

VPN.com takes compliance seriously. We fully adhere to all legal guidelines, ensuring that our affiliate relationships are transparently disclosed to our readers.

This includes strict compliance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations, which require that affiliate links be clearly marked. This ensures that our readers are always informed about any partnerships that may exist within the content they are reading.

Also, we make sure that we meet the requirements of region-specific regulations. For example, in the UK, we comply with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) rules, which mandate clear and fair disclosure of affiliate relationships in any form of marketing or review content.

Data & Cookie Policies

We also want to ensure that our readers are fully informed about the data collection practices used on our site. While affiliate tracking may involve the use of cookies to track clicks and referrals, we respect user privacy and only use this data to improve the services and content we provide.

For full details about how we handle your personal data and cookies, we invite you to review our Privacy Policy, where we explain our data collection practices in greater depth.

Examples of Our Affiliate Partnerships

We collaborate with some of the most reputable VPN providers in the industry through our affiliate partnerships. These partnerships help support our website and allow us to continue providing high-quality, unbiased reviews.

Some of the major VPN brands with which we have affiliate programs include:

• NordVPN: NordVPN is known for its strong security features, large server network and excellent performance.
• ExpressVPN: ExpressVPN is a top-tier provider that delivers excellent speeds, security and ease of use.
• CyberGhost: CyberGhost is popular for its user-friendly interface and solid privacy features.

It’s important to note that while we have affiliate relationships with these providers, we also review other VPN services that are not part of any affiliate program.

Our commitment is to provide thorough and honest evaluations regardless of whether a VPN is affiliated with us. All VPN providers, whether they have affiliate links or not, are tested using the same rigorous criteria to ensure fairness and transparency in our reviews.

How Our Recommendations Work

At VPN.com, we base our recommendations on a thorough evaluation process.

Objective Scoring

When we assign a rating or score to a VPN provider, it’s the result of detailed testing in several key areas, such as speed, security, features, ease of use and customer support. We take these factors and weigh them according to their importance for users.

For example, security and speed might account for a larger portion of the final score compared to other factors. This helps ensure that our reviews and ratings reflect real-world usage and are consistent across all VPN providers.

Conflicts of Interest

We want to make it clear that no VPN provider can pay for a higher ranking or a better score. Our reviews are based on facts, data and our own testing experiences. Affiliate partnerships or commission relationships do not affect the ratings or recommendations we give.

The editorial team has the final say on every review, maintaining full independence from our affiliate partnerships.

Refund Policy

If you are ever dissatisfied with a VPN service that you’ve purchased through our recommendation, you can take advantage of the provider’s money-back guarantee.

Most VPNs offer a trial period or a refund policy, allowing you to try their service risk-free. If it doesn’t meet your needs, you can get your money back within the specified time frame.

This ensures that you can make an informed decision without worrying about committing to something that doesn’t work for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Affiliate links allow us to generate revenue that helps fund our testing, research and the production of unbiased content. We only recommend VPNs that meet our rigorous standards and offer a great experience for our readers.

Using affiliate links does not affect the price you pay for the service and in many cases, you may even receive a discount.

No. We do not accept payment for positive reviews. All our VPN reviews are based on performance, security and features. We believe in maintaining editorial independence, which means our reviews are solely driven by the results of our testing.

We take editorial independence seriously. Our reviewers and testers have no involvement with the sales or affiliate teams, ensuring that the reviews are based solely on the results of our rigorous testing process.

Additionally, we disclose all affiliate relationships and any compensation we receive does not influence the content or ratings.

If you click on an affiliate link, you will be redirected to the VPN provider’s website. If you make a purchase, we may receive a commission.

However, this does not affect the price you pay for the service. Sometimes, you might even get an exclusive discount or promotion through the affiliate link.

No. We review many VPNs, some of which are affiliate partners, but others are not. Our reviews are always based on thorough testing and we provide honest evaluations of each service, regardless of whether we have an affiliate relationship with the provider.

Absolutely! We welcome suggestions from our readers. If there’s a VPN you’d like us to review, you can contact us directly and we’ll consider it for an upcoming review. We are always interested in exploring new VPNs that can offer value to our audience.

The Bottom Line

VPN.com believes that trust is the foundation of any good relationship. That’s why we’re committed to providing you with honest, unbiased and transparent reviews.

We understand how important your online security and privacy are and we work hard to ensure that every recommendation we make is based on real testing and thorough evaluation. Our goal is to empower you to make informed decisions that align with your needs and values.

We invite you to explore our detailed reviews, in-depth guides and VPN comparisons to find the best solution for your online security. Whether you’re looking for speed, security or a budget-friendly option, we’re here to help you browse with confidence in the world of VPNs.

Don’t hesitate; take the first step toward securing your online privacy today!

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